Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Facebook fumble

It is really surprising that a forward thinking, young managed company like Facebook would fumble so badly with their new Terms of Service.

Facebook just doesn't get it. They are messing with peoples identity and we're not going to take it!

What makes Facebook think that just because they are working to monetize their franchise that they can unilaterally take over a persons identity?

As I see it, Facebook has several options. They can push forward with their grab at the individuals identity and IP and face the wrath of the community; they could simple say that the individual owns all of their identity information and IP and provide better mechanisms for them to manage it; they could allow members to choose one of the Creative Commons licenses for IP placed on Facebook. I do not believe that Facebook has any right of ownership to a members identity information (name, email address, phone numbers, friends, etc.) or IP.

Simply changing the language of the Facebook ToS won't change the grab. Facebook needs to think beyound this afternoon and go far out into the future. They can not steal people's identity and IP just to monetize their network. "The" network will find someplace else to go.

What I want to see is Facebook providing mechanisms through Friend Connect that places identity information owners firmly in charge of their digital identity. While were at it, Microsoft and Google should do the same.